


Bielefeld - The happy one

by Snowingiron



Series: German Cities [6]
Category: Paris Burning (thecitysmith)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-09-07
Packaged: 2018-02-16 11:33:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2268153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowingiron/pseuds/Snowingiron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s a saying among Germans: “Bielefeld does not exist”</p><p>This is why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bielefeld - The happy one

> __
> 
> _ "I’m not free," he whispered and clutched Biefeld’s hand. "but I will be. I swear, this will be over soon.“ _
> 
> _Bielefeld smiled, with mud and blood on his face. They hid in one of the trenches, holding their rifles and waiting for the silence to pass. Suddenly Bielefeld stood up, his eyes wide._
> 
> _ "No… no, stay here." a german soldier was sneaking off to collect munition from the dead. "No, don’t." _
> 
> _ "What is it?,“ Cologne asked. _
> 
> _ "He’s mine. He’s one of mine. No!" _
> 
> _ Bielefeld left his rifle and jumped out of the trench. Cologne was too tired to reach out for him and he would never see Bielefeld again, at least not like this. _
> 
> There’s a saying among Germans: “[Bielefeld does not exist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielefeld_Conspiracy)”
> 
> This is why.
> 
> *
> 
> Bielefeld was a happy soul. Bielefeld was full of love. Bielefeld was rarely loved though.
> 
> In the beginning of 1214, when his people acknowledged him, it was a great time for him. His people were rich, traders and craftsmen called him home, even though they were barely here, always on their way to see knew places. He didn’t mind, but he really would’ve loved to see the world.
> 
> So the world came to him instead. War was ugly, war was exciting, war always ended the same way: with death. But during the Thirty Years’ War many languages were spoken in the castle he had always shared with his lords. They looked at Bielefeld who hid in a shadow and said:
> 
> "Wie is daar?“ (Who is there?)
> 
> "¿Le tienes miedo a la oscuridad?" (Are you afraid of the dark?)
> 
> "Det var inte min mening att såra dig." (I didn’t mean to hurt you)
> 
> "Tu te mens à toi-même." (You’re fooling yourself)
> 
> They taught him their languages until he knew them all.
> 
> *
> 
> In the beginning they frowned at his dark skin but they didn’t seem to mind.
> 
> "It’s the forest," a woman said and smiled at him. "The earth brought you to us."
> 
> He wasn’t old, or at least he didn’t feel old, but he looked like the old people living in his streets.
> 
> "I know a lot,“ he told the woman’s great great grand child. "because I remember a lot."
> 
> He loved sitting on the castle walls and enjoying the view. This was were he belonged. But when he looked up to the stars, he felt _Fernweh_.
> 
> *
> 
> The Revolution of 1848 had made his people restless. After 1919 they were troubled. A lot of his people had left to live in America. He understood. But he still missed them.
> 
> They didn’t look at him anymore. Instead they admired pictures of Berlin, strong and young and actually looking like them. They didn’t listen to him anymore either. What once were his words of advice they now turned into tales of an old man.
> 
> But as long as they still made him smile, he didn’t mind.
> 
> *
> 
> Cologne was too weak to follow him. Bielefeld ran towards a german soldier, and even though he got hit by several bullets, he still ran(he hadn’t run before in all his life. Not once.). Humans were so fragile. It only took one bullet for that man to die. And there was no last word, no struggling for breath, just death. He rocked the soldier in his arms and cried, because it was not his child, he had been so sure of it first, but now he saw the truth. It was just a boy, did it matter where he came from? It was too much. And finally he felt the pain of the bullets and how much they made him bleed.
> 
> There was no smile inside of him anymore. They wanted him to suffer, they wanted him to die. Death it should be then. Bielefeld lay down next to the boy on the battlefield and looked up into the sky until the stars came closer and closer and closer and closer…
> 
> *
> 
> Oh, there was so much Bielefeld had missed.
> 
> On the 3rd of April 1945 Bielefeld’s mayor opened the barrier to let the american troops in. He was shot by a man from the NSDAP. The pastor jumped on his bicycle and drove past the german soldier’s rows to make them surrender. It’s not like they were great people, but at some point you get tired of war or you don’t even know what you’re fighting for anymore – and then you wonder.
> 
> The Americans took the City without any resistance and the people of Bielefeld felt great grief. They didn’t know yet what they had lost.
> 
> *
> 
> It’s a joke. Just a joke. “Bielefeld does not exist. There is no Bielefeld.”
> 
> It was true, for a while. The people looked over their shoulder and expected someone to follow them but there was no one there and the other Cities had to admit that they never really knew Bielefeld. That friendly City and his kind smile.
> 
> *
> 
> She knew. When she was born, she knew. When she grew up, she knew. She was so young but she had dreams and her dreams were all nightmares. Those nightmares also felt like memories.
> 
> There was a new Bielefeld. She didn’t smile and even though she had never seen war, she knew exactly how to fight. The world hadn’t been ready for a gentle soul. So she left the forest, walked her streets, chewed her lips, scratched her face and waited for the rivers to rise.
> 
> She heard her people whisper about cold water and there were nervous people in front of the town hall. She pushed through the crowd until she saw a policeman keeping the gates closed.
> 
> "Let me in,“ she demanded in a voice that made the man shudder.
> 
> "The mayor will deliver a speech in a few hours."
> 
> "I know, let me in. I need to talk to him."
> 
> "Why?“
> 
> "Because I’m Bielefeld."


End file.
